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Thursday, January 5, 2017

Nope, There's No Such Thing as SUA on the 2010-2015 Montero Sport

A third party investigating body tapped by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) has released the results of its investigation on the alleged Sudden Unintended Acceleration (SUA) of Mitsubishi Montero Sport 2010-2015 models. Horiba Mira Ltd., an automotive engineering company based in the United Kingdom, has found no technical cause that explains SUA incidents involving sudden unintended acceleration together with perceived inability to stop the vehicle.
MMC, on its own, took the initiative to contract HORIBA MIRA to remove doubts on the road worthiness of Mitsubishi Montero Sport 2010-2015 models.

Horiba Mira started its investigation in June 2016 and released its formal findings in September 2016, which states:

“The investigation has found only one plausible root cause for sudden unintended acceleration, and inability to stop the Mitsubishi Montero Sport vehicle. Our hypothesis is that these incidents were caused by the driver mistakenly applying the accelerator, believing that they were pressing the brake pedal.

“Other root cause hypotheses have been excluded because they would require simultaneous, but temporary, malfunction of both the engine control and the vehicle braking system without fault conditions being logged by any vehicle systems and DTCs (Diagnostic Trouble Code) being recorded. Since these are independent systems, the possibility of simultaneous failure is extremely low.

“There are other potential causes for undemanded acceleration that have not been ruled out by the investigation, but none of these would affect the braking system. If such a failure occurred, the driver would still have the opportunity to control the vehicle using the brakes or by disengaging the transmission.

A suite of EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) screening tests were performed on a vehicle that had previously been involved in a SUA claim. The results showed that the vehicle is extremely resilient at very high test levels of EMI (Electromagnetic Interference). … No adverse behavior was observed during testing with levels corresponding to EU regulations and ISO standards.”

With the third party investigation now complete, Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corporation (MMPC) once again assures the public that the previous generation Montero Sport model (2010-2015) is neither defective nor unsafe to use.

MMPC President and CEO Mr. Yoshiaki Kato commented: “We are very much pleased on the outcome of the results of HORIBA MIRA investigation. The methodical evaluation conducted by Horiba Mira, which found no irregularities in the function and design of vehicle, is an affirmation of our earlier statement that there is nothing wrong with the Montero Sport causing SUA. We hope that the results of the investigation will finally put an end to the SUA issue on the Montero Sport.’’

MMPC turned over the complete results of Horiba Mira evaluation report to DTI for study and reference.

The public may also access the full 111-page report of Horiba Mira here.

Not True. This happened to us last year when our Montero sport suddenly accelerated when driver shifted from Park to Drive, the wheels screeched and the montero suddenly charged into a tricycle parked on the street. You can't switch the gears from Park to Drive if the driver is not stepping on the brakes.

Read the report...the conclusion states that the likely cause is pedal misapplication. However, they're not ruling out that something in the ECU may be at fault. That said,

"Horiba Mira Ltd., an automotive engineering company based in the United Kingdom, has found no technical cause that explains SUA incidents involving sudden unintended acceleration together with perceived inability to stop the vehicle."

In other words, stomping on the brakes should be enough to stop the vehicle. The research found no evidence that the brakes can fail at any time when the accelerator is pressed.

SUA is caused by inadvertently depressing of Gas pedal when going to Park (from Neutral), or from Park to Drive BECAUSE OF THE MISSING SHIFT LOCK FEATURE. Shift lock feature REQUIRES driver to press brake pedal before allowing you to shift from N to R or Park, or from Park to R to Drive. (Without this, driver can be pressing gas and you know what happens next.)